Good Design: More Science Than Art?

I remember once having a healthy debate with a designer about piece she created for me. I told her I wasn’t comfortable with it and wanted to change the alignment of an element. Her response? “Good design is supposed to make you uncomfortable.”

I don’t buy that. Humans love beautiful things and given our stress-filled lives, I don’t think we go out looking for things that make us uncomfortable. Most of us probably believe that good design is art – hard to quantify. Author Lance Hosey recently wrote a piece for the New York Times about how neuroscience is unlocking the elements of good design and why we like it. In fact, Hosey says “A revolution in the science of design is already under way and most people, including designers, aren’t even aware of it.”

Here are a few examples of scientific evidence that Hosey cites:

Image: James Barker at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Color. It turns out that looking at green things can boost creativity and motivation. This is also why being able to look out the window at a landscape helps hospital patients recover faster and call center employees work more efficiently.

Geometry. We like rectangles. Experiments over the ages have repeatedly shown that people prefer images and objects in the “magical” proportion of about 5 by 8. He cites books, televisions, and credit cards as examples. I would also add smartphones, computer displays and business cards to the list. Take a quick look across your desk. The only thing I saw on mine that didn’t fit this rule was the pad of square post-it notes.

Natural fractals. These patterns have universal appeal, Hosey says, and can be found everywhere in nature. Recent science has found that we prefer a certain density of these patterns. Actually, our response to this pattern is so dramatic that it can help reduce stress by as much as 60 percent!

Hosey is right: “It should come as no surprise that good design, often in very subtle ways, can have such dramatic effects.” Whether you are designing a publication, a logo, an advertisement, or a new product, its nature will affect how people feel about the design and the company it represents. As we learn more about our innate biases, making good design will become more about science and a little less about art.